Trailer



Dec. 26, 1922. 1,439,880. A. FEIGELSON.

TRAILER.

HLED FEB. 10. 1921. 3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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Patented Dee. 26,

ire ears teases ALEXANDER FEIGELSON, OF BEAUMONT, TEXAS.

TRAILER.

Application filed February 10, 1921. Serial No. 443,872.

I? whom it may concern.

it known that l, ALEXANDER F nIcnLsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beaumont, in the county of Jefferson and State of Texas, have invented a new and useful Trailer, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to trailers for use with trucks or tractors resides in certain features of construction whereby a continuous jointed draft-pole through the longitudinal extent of the traller is pro vided, whereby the trailer .wheels are enabled and. caused to trail in the tracks of the preceding truck or trailer; whereby unusual flexibility of the trailer is obtained, without decreasing its strength; and where by the tilting or st aining of the load and load-supporting frame, duetothe passing of the wheels over uneven surfaces," will be eliminated or reducedto a minimum.

Inthe drawings, wherein like reference Fig. 6 is a similar view, taken on line 66, of Fig. 2.

In my improved trailer, a load-carrying frame A'is supported upon a front axle l, carrying wheels 2, and a rear axle 3, carrying wheels l. The frame is composed of anend member 5, side members 6, front members 7, and a head block 8, riveted, welded or otherwise rigidly connected together, and preferablyof angle-iron construction. The front members '7 converge toward the front, and together with the head-block 8 give to the forward part of the frame a truncated t -shape.

This structure is advantageous in that the converging of the frame toward the front enables the front and rear wheels to be placed close together and insures clearance of the front wheels when the latter are turned, permitting an exceptionally short turn to be made without difficult Extending longitudinally through the cenpivot bolt 18, which 19 between I-beams 9.

ter of the frame are a pair of parallel spaced i-beams 9, rigidlysecured to the frame at front and rear and providing a guiding and retaining support for abolsten saddle l0, slidably mounted thereupomthe saddle having inturned ends 11, extending underthe top outer side flanges of the I beams-9. The upper surface of the saddle 10 has an upwardly projecting ring 12,

forming a pivotal seat for a correspondingly shaped pro ect1on 13, on th'e'undeu side of a plate 14, upon which a bolster'lii is supported between the int-urned upper portions 16' of the plate. is provided with side standards 17, and the bolster and its supporting plate 1a are pivotally secured to saddle 10 by means of passes through slot The .bolst-er is thus capable of pivotal movement about the bolt 18 in theseat 12 and longitudinal ad]ustment on the frame A by the sliding of the saddle 10 on I-beams 9. By this construction, the load will'lie' firm and levelin the bolsters when a turn "oFFics.

The bolster 15' is made, and the variation in length be tween centers will be remedied by the sliding of the bolsters. The tilting movement of the bolster is restricted and excessive tilting prevented by one or the other of the shoes 20, fixed to the under side of the bolster, engaging the upper surface of the side member 6 beneath it. The longitudinal movement of the bolster is limited by truss bar 21 and strip 22, respectively positioned forward and rearward of the bolster and theopposite side members 6 and serves to brace the side members and HICIGdSB the lateral rlgidlty of the frame.

secured to the-top of the I-beams 9. Bar 21 has its ends fastened-to'the under side of To support the frame A upon the'rea'r' 1 axle there is rigidly attached to each side member 6 ofthe frame a depending plate 23 which rests upon the rear axle 3 and is rigidlysecured thereto by abrace plate 2%. Plates 23 are further held and braced in vertical position by anqangle bar '60, to the vertical flange of which is secured a centrally positioned plate 59, provided with an'eye 58' for. a 'purpose hereinafter explained; Onthe horizontal flange of bar 60 there is fastened a bearing-strap 39,

overlying both the upper and lower sur faces 'of' the bar. A vertical opening 40 is attaching the draw bar of a succeeding trailer. 7

The manner of supporting the frame A on the front axle is such as to permit of a pivotal swinging of the axle in a horizontal plane or tilting in a vertical plane, or both, without materially affecting the normal position of the frame or subjecting it to undue tilting or twisting strains. The base upon which the front end of the frame is carried consists of an axle bed 25, carried by and rigidly secured to the front axle and having firmly fastened to its upper end a horizontal plate 26 which forms a part of a rocking fifth wheel and acts as a rocking seat for the frame. Upon the upper surface of this seat rests a rounded bearing block 27, aflixed to the under side of the head block 8 of frame A. In use, the block 27 iS designed to have a rocking movement on its supporting seat 26 under certain conditions, this rocking movement greatly increasing the lateral flexibility of the trailer.

The frame A is pivotally connected to the front axle by means of a king bolt 28, passing through the head block and journaled on the axle bed, preferably in bearings 29 provided therefor by strap-irons 30, and held to the axle by U-bolt 31. To the lower end of the king b0 t there is secured, by a nut 32, or other suitable means, a plate 38, to which chains 34 and 35 are attached, as

clearly shown in Fig. 6. These chains are.

and prevent undue strain thereon and assist in steering by effecting proper turning of the rear axle when the front axle is turned,

to accomplish tracking of the wheels with those of the preceding vehicle.

To permit lateral play of the king bolt, swinging from its head 36 on the upper face of the head block 8, the aperture in the lower flange portion 37 of the head block, pro vided for the passage of the king bolt, is madein the form of a relatively wide lateral slot 38. The opening in the top of the head block is slightly wider than the shank of the king bolt to permit the swinging of thebolt on its head. With this construction, whenever either of the front wheels encounters an obstacle or uneven place on the ground, the axle is tilted to one side or the other, but instead of the frame A being tilted with the axle or subjected to severe lateral strains, the axle, hung on king bolt 28, swings about the curved bearing block 27 on a pivot point consisting of the head 36 of the king bolt. Considerable lateral tilting of the front wheels and axle may thus take place, independent of the frame A and without being communicated thereto.

The draft means for the trailer comprises a draft pole 41, connected to the forward end of the trailer by a universal joint and also adapted to be pivotally connected to the rear end of the preceding vehicle. The pole has a collar (42, as) secured to each end, which ma 1 or may not be split, as desired. Collar 42, on its forward end, has a terminal clevis 4-2 and pin 44, passed through the perforations in the clevis and the registering opening :0 in the bar )ivotally connects the draft pole with the preceding vehicle so as to be capable of a wide horizontal swinging movement. Collar l3 on the rearward end of the pole is also in the form. of a clevis, the arms 45,% of which are journaled on pins or studs a7, projecting from opposite ends of a horizontal block 48. This block has a vertical opening through its center, through which passes the king bolt 28. The block is preferably arranged just above the axle 1 and set in an aperture &9 in the axle bed 25. The upper edge of the aperture limits upward movement of the block on the king bolt and thus retains the point of draft connection at substantially uniform level, while permitting free horizontalpivota-l movement of the block about the king bolt and free vertical pivotal movement of the yoke 45-4l6 about the pivot formed by pins 47.

In order to cause the wheels of the trailer to trail in the tracks of the preceoi tractor, or trailer to wh' it is cor chains or hinged rods 50, 51 are to the front axle near its ends and attached at their opposite ends, in crossed relation, to the rear of the preceding vehicle, preferably to bar 6 taching the chains, apertures similar to apert 52 in bar 60 may be utilized in the 11mm 1' shown in i i l and 5, but any other suitable or convenient attaching means may be employed. To insure 1" e.

slidiing of the chains over one another at pointof crossing, the chains spaced and made to ride against the smooth draft pole, one of the chains being ox cross-ed and the other under the pole, as shown in Fig. 1. The chains are adapted to steer the front wheels of the trailer and cause ,L'l

without the chains in place.

For convenience in 'at- .init the In the railer construction thus far described, the front axle and. king bolt, unless braced in some way, would, under the pull of the draft pole, tend to be drawn out of their proper and necessary perpendicular alinement, To guard against sch a condition, the trailer is provided with longitudinal brace member which insures longi-- tudinalrigidity of the trailer without interference to the slightest degree with its lateral and vertical flexibility. member, intthe preferred form illustrated in the drawing, consists of a reach rod 5i. with its forwardend in substantially the same horizontal plane as the dr: it pole, and, li e the latter fastened to the front of the trailer by having the king bolt passed through it. its a convenient coupling means for the forward end latter may have its end portion resting upon and secured to plate 05, which in turn is supported by the front axle. The kin bolt passesthrough this plate and thus holds the reach rod in alinement with the draft pole, at the same time providing a pivotal connection for both the draft pole and the reach red. The provision of the flat coupling plate and the spacing of the end of the reach rod from the rearward face of the ie bed insures free and unrestricted swinging of the reach rod and the axle construction about the pivotal connection.

To further increase the flexibility of this construction the reach rod is provided at its rearward end with a clevis construction. similar to that on the forward end of draft pole l1, the collar 56 being pivotally connected to the cross bar 60 of the.trailer frame by means of a pin 57, through eye 58 in plate 59, fixed torear bar 60. It will. be noted that the reach rod has a flexible connection at each end. It will. be further noted that the reach rod is attached at its forward end at the point of connection of the draft pole and at its rearward end at the point of connection of the draft pole of the succeeding vehicle. By

this arrangement, continuous .draft is secured and a draft means equivalent to one continuous jointed draft pole if formed by the draft pole and reach rod of a single trailer or through the draft poles and reach rods of any number of connected trailers of like construction.

What I claim'is:

l. A trailer comprising front and rear axles, a frame mounted on the rear axle, means for supporting the frame on the front axle to permit rocking movement between said front axle and said frame, and a reach rod flexibly connected to the front axle and flexibly connected to the under part of the frame near itsrear end.

2. A trailer comprising front and rear axles, a frame mounted thereon, said frame This brace f the reach rod, the

including atransverse brace member above the rearaxlc. a rocking;' connection between the front axle and the frame and a reach rod flexibly connected at its forward end to the trailer near thefront axle and flexibly connected at rearward end to said brace member.

axles, a frame mounted thereon, said frame including a transverse brace bar above the rear axle, me "i A fitting a rocking movement between the ant axle and the frame, reach rod, means for flexibly; connecting the forward end of said reach rod to the trailer at the front axle, said ree rod ext-end: rearrrardly and upwarc U and means for connecting the rearward end of said rod to said brace bar.

e, A trailer comprising front and rear axles, a loadcarrying frame having depending supporting members on each side secured to the rear axle and a transverse brace axles, frame mounted thereon, a reach rod flexibly connected at its rear end to the under part of the frame near its rear end, a rearwardly extending plate restin on said frcntaxle, the front end of said roach rod being supported by said plate, and a king bolt connecting the frame to the front axle and passing through the forward part of said plate.

6. A trailer comprising front and rear axles, a frame mounted thereon, an axle bed on the front axle, said axle bed being provided with a central aperture, a draft pole, a reach rod, means for hingedly connecting said rod to the under side of the frame near its rear end, a coupling member on said draft pole extending into said axle bed aperture, a substantially horizontal plate resting on'said front axle and extending into said aperture, the front end of said reach rod being attached .to and supported by said plate, and. a king bolt pivotally connecting the frame and front axle and hingedly connecting the craft pole coupling and the reach rod supporting plate.

7. A trailer comprising front and rear axles, a frame mounted on the rear axle and having a head block, means for supporting the frame on the front axle, said means comprising a transverse, vertically-disposed axle bed, a bracket secured to the upper end of said axle bed and adapted to form a rocking seat for the front part of the frame, a

o. A trailer comprising front and rear supporting the ireine on the l'ront said means comprising on male bed, a

rear verdly extending hreclret secured to the c .1 1 1 1 wer part of. said a ile bed and rumored to 1 said bracket in rocking r d a king bolt posiiraclret end conont axle.

rent and 'ailer comprising re all nine 5 counted on the rear axle and a hollow he d bled: provided with an e d erture in and a. lateral slot in its bottom, Means for supp the frame on the front axle, seir means comprising an axle bed, n bracket on the upper part of said axle bed, the "forward port of the frame res;- ing upon said bracket in rocking engage- "nent therewith, and a hing bolt connecting the frame to the front axle, said king: bolt extending through said aperture and slot in said head block and being; swinging'ly sup- POItGQl by its head from said head block.

10. A trailer comprising); front and rear axles, a frame mounted on the rear axle and having e hollow head block provided with an aperture in its top and aregistering lateral slot in its bottom, means 'lor supporting};

frame on the front axle, comprising a vertical] hsposed axle lied its upper eo e sloping front of the frame, hearing block secure therewith, a king said aperture and L block eedswingingly sup- L-f head from S231 heed block, "l e extending through said jourand means for connecting the or the king: bolt to the "front axle. ;1 trailer comprising front and rear :1 frame mounted thereon, a draft pole to the trailer body and d to be hinge'lly attached to the rear receding vehicle, a reach rod, means 0' connecting said rod to the rearward porn of the frame and to the draft pole, bolt pivotzilly connecting the frame to e front axle, link connections between the bolt and opposite ends of the rear axle, ,nd linl: connections between each end of the rent axle and the opposite side of the end of the preceding vehicle,

In testimony whereof I elfix my signature.

ALEXANDER FEIGELSON.

said 

